Bury Business Group Blog

Winding down or gearing up?

Now it’s November, it doesn’t seem quite so terrible to talk about Christmas. In fact, many of us are actively embracing the approach of the festive season as we countdown to days off, and start looking forward to various work “do’s” over the coming weeks. Here at Bury Business Group we’re certainly looking forward to our night out on 30th November … we didn’t want to have to wait until December!

However, it’s clear to see that when it comes to Christmas, and the end of the year, business owners are often split. There are those that see this time as a fantastic opportunity to start winding down. On the other hand, there are those who see it as a great chance to start gearing up.

Which camp do you fall in to?

This period, as we hurtle towards a few days off stuffing our faces and visiting family, is a great time to stop and reflect on what the last year has held, and start to focus on what the future might hold for you. That might be personally, or professionally.

However, if you’re only going to start thinking about it in the coming weeks, then you’re already far behind your more successful competitors. The reality is that it takes our minds a while to adjust to a new way of thinking, your subconscious needs time to absorb what’s going on and doesn’t just change overnight. Those Big Ben Bongs at midnight don’t mean anything for your mindset, so quite pretending they do.

Generally speaking it takes between 4 and 6 weeks to get your brain rewired to accept a change. Those who wait until January to start those New Year’s Resolutions aren’t going to start feeling the benefit until half way through February. However, those who start altering their thinking and shifting their focus now, will be ready to hit 2019 with a brand-new mindset and a great chance of producing positive change in their businesses.

If that wasn’t a good enough reason to start planning ahead, consider what a winding down mindset might do for you. People who see December as the perfect month to recover from what’s gone before are going to find themselves writing the entire month off, and simply treading water (at best). Equally, they will then spend the whole of January trying to rebuild the momentum they’ve lost, whilst starting to think about new goals, directions and strategies.

Effectively that means they will be at least two months behind their competitors who have decided not to take their foot off the pedal.